Love, jealousy and power. A deadly combination, some would say. The American Players Theatre production of Othello emphasized these themes, making it relatable to the audience. Othello has been performed for centuries with many different interpretations. The American Players Theatre production of Othello directed by John Lang shows the harmful influence of power, and how it leads to deception and corruption. By highlighting universal themes of love, jealousy, and power, the American Players Theatre production of Othello made this play relatable to a modern day audience.…
The play Othello, written by William Shakespeare was written the 16th century during the Elizabethan era. Othello is an amazing character. He enjoyed success in the warfare, which gave him the reputation as one of Venice’s best generals. Although he has great success in the battlefield, he has a dramatic flaw that causes a downfall in his life. The dramatic flaw is jealousy. This was brought on by a simple persuasion of Iago, the antagonist of the play. Even though Iago used manipulation to get Othello jealous, it was Othello views his own racial identity and his lack of confidence in himself that allows Iago to persuade him that Desdemona is cheating on him. Othello was misguided by his jealousy which led him through a path of constant questioning…
The English language owes a lot to Shakespeare. He invented over 1700 of our common words by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, and adding prefixes and suffixes. William Shakespeare has become the most famous and influential author in English literature. He was only active as a writer for a quarter of a century. He wrote thirty eight plays, one hundred fifty-four sonnets.…
In Othello the theme jealously is widely explored by two key main characters - Iago and Othello. Iago even admits '...and oft my jealousy,' Act 3, Scene 3 - 148. Othello never openly admits to his own and even in his last speech he says '...one not easily jealous.' Act 5, Scene 2 - 344-7. Jealousy is shown in the play Othello as a sickness and is often referred to as a 'green eyed monster,' Act 3, Scene 3 - 168. The jealously comes from numerous areas - the want for power - 'I follow him to serve my turn upon him,' Act 1, Scene 1 - 42, the concept that a white man should be above a black man, cuckolding - 'I will chop her into messes. Cuckold me!' Act 4, Scene 1 - 188, homosexuality and envy.…
Out of revenge, Iago successfully planted the seeds of jealousy into Othello's mind when in the garden he insinuated that Cassio and Desdemona were having an affair. Iago implied that he would use Cassio to make Othello jealous because Othello chose Cassio over him to be a second command man because Cassio was more experience than he was. Desdemona and Cassio knew each other before she knew Othello because he worked for Othello before. Iago implied that he was going to make Othello look like a fool by having Desdemona cheat on him with Cassio. Iago never directly said Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair but he was going to make Othello think they were having affair by using the strawberry embroidered handkerchief that Othello gave to her. He manipulated Othello until he thought of revenge. Once it did Iago told Othello to “Beware of Jealousy.” Iago successful and planting his first seeds of jealousy into the mind of Othello.…
It has been 400 years since Shakespeare has written his last play but his messages are still relevant to today’s context as he touches upon timeless issues such as racism, sexism, honor, bravery, vengeance, identity, hate, manipulation and jealousy which are issues we face now. I am going to be expanding upon the topic of jealousy.…
Othello's jealousy against Desdemona is perhaps the strongest emotion incurred in the play. The jealousy he experiences turns him insane with rage, and he loses all ability to see reason. The first instance that instills doubt in Othello's mind is Brabantio's warning "Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:/She has deceived her father, and may thee" (1.3.292-293). This early seed of doubt allows Iago to play on Othello's jealous nature, and concoct a plan to take advantage of Othello. Iago slowly leaks his poison into Othello and soon has the result he desires, Othello is overcome with jealousy. Othello continuously denies his jealousy, but it is apparent that he is losing his mind with the thought of Desdemona's unfaithfulness. He speaks to Iago saying "No Iago;/I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;/And on the proof, there is no more but this,--/Away at once with love or jealousy!" (3.3.189-192) The fact that he believes that his wife is unfaithful with only insinuations put forth by Iago shows the fact that he is prone to jealousy. Soon after, with Iago's "help" he believes to see undeniable proof that Desdemona is unfaithful with the loss of the handkerchief. Othello experiences jealousy so strong that he delves…
Jealousy led to many other factors in the play which lead to certain characters getting revenge for the wrong reason and pointless reasons. Othello had been convinced fully by Iago that his love Desdemona was a whore and had cheated on Othello with Michael Cassio Othello’s previous right hand man who he had took of the job due to being drunk while on the job. With this jealousy everywhere and mostly in Iago it had came around and effected him in a bad way and led to his downfall and lost his title as “honest Iago” “o thou dull moor, the handkerchief thou speak’st of/I found by fortune, and did give my husband;/For often with a solemn earnestness,/more than indeed belong’d to such a triffle,/He begg’d of me to steal it.” (Othello Act 5 Scene 2, 225-228). This showing leads to his downfall where he has been caught lying and what he had done had been unrelieved. His jealousy also led to the downfall of Roderigo, he had trusted Iago in what he was doing but in reality all he needed was his money and jewels. Iago had stabbed Roderigo because he doesn’t need him anymore “O damn’d Iago! O inhuman dog!”(Othello act 5 scene 1, 62). Roderigo is realzing that he had been betrayed by the man he thought who was helping him, this was leading to his down fall. All because of jealousy he had to his down…
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on” (Shakespeare III. iii. 195-197). Everyone has the capacity for jealousy. It can change how people think as well as how they act. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, jealousy is nurtured within the minds of multiple characters, and this jealousy is what ignites the want to make multiple misconceptions arise in order to create havoc and inflict suffering upon others and in some cases, upon themselves. To start off, Iago illustrates how jealousy can cause one to want to inflict pain upon others. Secondly, Roderigo shows how jealousy can make one become easily persuaded into doing wrong things. Lastly, Othello is a fine example of how jealousy can cloud somebody’s mind and cause them to see things as something else and inflict suffering on themselves and on others.…
Shakespeare is prominent in his use of recurring themes throughout his works, particularly those of love, death, and betrayal. All these themes are present in Othello. Most dominant, however, are manipulation and jealousy. Jealousy runs the characters’ lives in Othello from the beginning of the play, when Roderigo is jealous of Othello because he wishes to be with Desdemona, and to the end of the play, when Othello is furious with jealousy because he believes Cassio and Desdemona have been engaging in an affair, but manipulation the prominent action that fuels the jealousy within Othello. Some characters’ jealousy is fashioned by other characters. Iago is involved in much of this, creating lies and implementing confusing situations. He is consumed with jealousy of Cassio and masked with a hatred of Othello because he was not chosen as lieutenant, Cassio was. Iago is selfish in that he wants everyone to feel as he does so he manipulates the jealousy of other characters by betraying them to each other. Iago is a man blinded by envy and anger, with a goal in mind for everyone to become equally jealous, which he completes through his betrayal and manipulation of characters, specifically Othello.…
Jealousy can lead to people doing destructive things, like killing one another. Its marks on Othello make him so crazy that he resorts to killing his wife, and then killing himself. “Ay, let her rot and perish and be damned tonight, for she shall not live. No, my heart is turned to stone (IV.1.178-180).” Othello has just seen his “proof” that Desdemona is unfaithful. He is too rash and starts making threats that cannot be undone, like killing his wife. His character is so quick to judge that he doesn’t even think about Desdemona’s character and how she would behave. He does not look deeper into the matter. Othello says this metaphor “my heart is turned to stone” expressing how quickly his character changed and how jealousy brings a toll to his life. In the next speech Othello reflects on his actions and tells Lodovico and Gratiano what he wants to be remembered by. “Then must you speak/Of one that loved not wisely, but too well./Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought,/Perplexed in the extreme. Of one whose hand,/Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away/Richer than all his tribe (5.2.343-348)”. He admits that he was irrational and that his emotions were too strong. “loved not wisely, but too well”, he got carried away too quickly by being in love, and was not fully thinking properly. Once tricked into jealousy, he went berserk and threw away everything good in his life. Using the simile “Like the base Indian” him being a silly “savage” who wasn’t smart and “threw a pearl away” referring to killing Desdemona: a white, fair and rare woman. Reflecting on his actions with this simile and his new knowledge and realization of himself, he then kills himself. When one is tricked by jealousy, their actions are greatly altered leading them to kill loved ones and finally, leading to the self-destruction. Jealousy is a murderer that becomes a virus, killing everyone it…
Jealousy takes many forms and sometimes it is harmless while at other times it can be destructive. In William Shakespeare’s play “Othello” a man named Iago hates and is jealous of the protagonist Othello because Othello has not promoted him to position of Lietunant, so he decides to try and kill Othello. However, he first convinces Roderigo to help him because Roderigo is in love with Othello’s wife Desdemona and Iago promises that he can get him together with Desdemona. With Roderigo’s help, Iago is able to plot a series of events which eventually leads to convincing Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, and this not only causes conflict between husband and wife, but leads to Othello’s desire to kill Cassio. Thus, Shakespeare suggests that when people are conflicted with jealousy, they may hurt others and even cause their own destruction.…
In the play Othello, jealousy is the driving element to the plot of the story. Shakespeare focuses on the dangers of Jealousy and how it can destroy lives and marriages through the forms of professional competition and sexual suspicion. Through the character Iago, his jealousy of Cassio's military position is the source of his hatred for Othello and the fuel for his manipulation of Othello and Desdemona's marriage. This jealousy shown from Iago of Cassio is relevant to modern audiences because it resembles similar situations in today's workforce, therefore easy for modern audiences to relate to. Iago begins to warn Othello of his wife's supposed misdoings with Cassio, 'Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!//It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on' (3.3.170) Iago explains that the man left behind the path of destruction of the 'green eyed monster' will be left embarrassed and shamed. Also, the imagery in this quote paints a helpful picture to understand the meaning of it. And this is not only the theme of jealousy, it is the manipulation of Othello's identity as well. Othello sticks by the fact that he is not easily made jealous, and will not lead a jealous life 'Think’st thou I’d make a life of jealousy//To follow still the changes of the moon' (3.3.182). This statement by Othello can be related to by modern…
Jealousy plays a major key role in the play Othello. During the duration of the play, there is a large number of scenes where Othello displays the destructive emotion of jealousy. Throughout the play, jealousy is shown as a destruction method that Iago used on Othello to try to confuse him and disarray his emotional state. An example of how…
According to Fintan O’Toole, Othello’s “tragic flaw” is jealousy which he carries around like a “crutch just waiting for someone to kick it from under him.” There are three types of male jealousy; professional, romantic and parental. Romantic jealousy is the most important. It is shown through Cassio’s betrayed love by Desdemona and Othello’s jealous belief that Desdemona is having an affair. Here, Shakespeare wants us to empathise with Othello as he does not realise Iago is lying.…